A new report says none of the nation’s largest freight railroads have joined a voluntary federal safety program despite earlier promises to do so.
The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism found that only BNSF and Norfolk Southern have begun limited trials of the Confidential Close Call Reporting System, or C³RS. The Associated Press republished the report, which also noted that a federal working group formed to encourage participation has recently disbanded.
The Federal Railroad Administration supports the program, which allows employees to report unsafe events confidentially and shields them from discipline or enforcement actions. Modeled after an aviation program launched in 1976, C³RS is managed by NASA as an independent third party and is designed to improve safety while protecting railroads from FRA enforcement in reported cases.
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